This blog is a forum for Mentor High School Honors English 12 students to engage in book discussions based on free reading books.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom, is the story about Eddy, an old WWII veteran who works and maintains an old amusement park. One day at the park, Eddy dies while saving a little girls life. He goes to heaven and learns that the only way to get to his heaven is to encounter 5 people that influenced his life and who he influenced. These people could be people he was really close with or random people he barely knew. Also, the only way for his 5 people to go to their heavens is to meet Eddy in his passing over stage. Eddy learns new lessons from all 5 of his people. In these lessons he learns to move on from his life and accept his new life in heaven.

Here are some discussion questions.

1. If there is a heaven, do you believe it is something similar to this interpretation?

2. Why do you think Eddy had to learn lessons about his old life to accept his new one in heaven?

14 comments:

1. I myself believe there is a heaven. I do not have a full idea of what i think it truly is but i believe it is a place of forever peace. after reading this novel i think i might believe that heaven is the last time you learn lessons. you cant just walk into it.

2. I think eddy had to learn lessons because god thought it was important for him to let go of his life. also if you read the book you find out that eddy never wants to lose his wife and when he does hes devistated. but he ends up being with her in his own heaven which ends up being the amusement park he basically lived in his whole life. i believe that the lessons he learned in heaven tie into his old life on earth and that they proved to god he truly was a good person.

2. I think that in order for people to move on with their lives and "move on to the next chapter" they have to learn lessons. For example, you learn lessons in high school that help you in college and in order to be successful in life you take lessons learned from college.

In resonse to the first question, I believe heaven is a very peaceful place people go when they die if they have lived an honorable life. I believe it is a place where they feel no pain, and they can live happily while watching over the loved ones they left behind. In response to the second question, I think it was necessary for Eddy to learn and appreciate the lessons from his old life in order to accept his new life in heaven because everyone's pasts shape them; Eddy's past lessons that he learns from allow him to proceed to heaven and accept his new life there because he has fully learned from the old one. The lessons he learns about his old life enable him to move forward with his new life in heaven; he no longer feels as if he has missed out on something. He has taken everything he could possibly have learned from out of his old life, so now he can enter his new life in heaven without any regrets or uncertainty.

In response to number two, I feel that Eddy had to learn lessons about his old life in order to not make mistakes in his new life. I am a firm believer in the saying"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it", so if Eddy does not remember his past, he is bound to repeat it.

Jimmy, not to be critical, but I could've read this information myself on the book jacket of this novel, which happens to be next to my alarm clock because of my love for Albom's work. But I digress...Let me get into the nitty gritty details of this comment I am about to post. I'll start with question 2. First of all, you did not explain who Eddie met or why he met them in the first place (once again, not trying to be critical). Eddie was sent to this purgatory like region to atone for his past sins. He still had some pain in his heart from the rough childhood he suffered from, most due to the fact that his father was a raging alcoholic. In my opinion, you are missing out on other important discussion questions that go along with this novel. One thing that can be commented on is the connectedness that reoccurs throughout the various characters Eddie meets. Eddie has a connection to each character he meets, which is what the entire story revolves around. My opinion of question 1 is not to similar to what the norm is. I don’t like to believe in the whole cloud filled realm with angels and cherubs playing panpipes. When I pass, I want to go to a place I love and I want to live life, as If I were alive. This is what Eddie’s life turns into after he meets all of his people.Hopefully we will still be friends, even after you read this post. And I also hope that this counts for one of my two comments.

For question one, I do believe in a heaven. However, I do not know what the real salvation is like, whether its hinduism, buddhism, christianity, etc. I believe that there is a reason for everything and life isn't just one giant coincidence. For question two, I think he has to learn his lessons so that he can reach heaven without feeling guilty about the negative impacts on various lives.

To answer the first question, I'd have to agree with Jimmy. I really don't know what heaven is like at all. I hope that it is a place where a person can come to terms with who they were and a place where they get to spend the rest of forever with their friends and family.

I would think that Eddy had to learn lessons about his old life to accept his new one in heaven because he must fully understand himself and what he had been through in order to be at peace in heaven. Maybe if he didn't take away anything from the life he lived on earth, he will always wonder whether or not what he did was good enough. By learning the lessons, he can see that his life meant something, not just to him, but to the people around him that he influenced and touched the hearts of.

I don't necessarily believe there is a heaven, but I believe there is an afterlife, and it could be just like this or nothing like this at all; there's really no way to know. However, I do think that the actions and choices you make in your time on Earth affect the kind of after life you have, which is basically what this interpretation is about.